Star Trek: Voyager

"Hunters"

Air date: 2/11/1998
Written by Jeri Taylor
Directed by David Livingston

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

"Don't pay attention to rumors."
"Don't pay attention to Neelix."

— Neelix and me

Nutshell: Many poignant moments, though the episode's primary drive is saddled with another cartoon subplot.

"Message in a Bottle" three weeks ago perfectly exemplified the uneasy duality of shallow cartoon versus serious drama that Voyager's fourth-season adventure angle has supplied. Now "Hunters" drives that point home even further. I'd heard a couple weeks ago that "Hunters" would supply the dramatic character-oriented follow-up that I was thirsting for in "Message." So I was anticipating what I hoped would be one of the best episodes yet this season.

Well, like much of season four, I've been left with a generally positive impression—but at the same time, I find myself disappointed that the show still didn't nearly live up to its potential. What we could've had was a pivotal moment in the series' run. What we got instead was a good hour with a number of poignant, important moments but also some glaring problems.

At least Voyager is consistent.

"Hunters" is the second episode in what will undoubtedly become known as the "Hirogen arc," but this episode is really about something much more important to Voyager: the issue of how crew members feel when they receive an update from their Alpha Quadrant friends and families—in the form of letters that come trickling through the alien communications array that Starfleet has managed to further utilize.

Some of these moments have been years in the making, and I think the writers should be commended for biding their time in addressing this issue. They toyed with the idea back in first season's "Eye of the Needle," but by waiting three years before finally making it really happen, they've allowed the opportunity for family and friends back home to move on with their lives.

It brings up some interesting questions, and that's where the gold of "Hunters" lies. I very much appreciated that most of the letters from home presented uneasiness rather than quick fixes, because I suspect that's the way it really would be.

Case in point: Chakotay learns that the Maquis have been decimated by the Cardassian/Dominion alliance. This is good stuff. Not to beat a dead horse, but I think it has been far too long since the word "Maquis" has been uttered on Voyager. The fact that all the Maquis back in the Alpha Quadrant are gone now undoubtedly hits the Maquis population on Voyager pretty hard. Chakotay's reaction to this devastating news is an especially poignant moment. Similarly, the sullen scene where Chakotay informs Torres of the Maquis' fate is one of the episode's highlights.

On the other hand, I still don't think this will have all the effects I want it to, especially considering the only Maquis crew members we see in the entire episode are Chakotay and Torres. Sure, there's a vague reference to "all the others," but when it comes down to it, Chakotay and Torres are the only real Trek characters left who could speak for the Maquis, and they only began to discuss what was worth discussing. I find that unfortunate, because I think there was a lot more that could've been said. I can dream of more dialog: Why not some acknowledgement from the non-Maquis part of the crew? Why is there no discussion about it between Chakotay and Janeway? I might as well just keep dreaming, since there's about zero chance of getting more complex questions out of it. As I've said (too) many times before, that aspect of Voyager is dead, cremated, dispersed, long gone, and forgotten.

But never mind. The true overriding theme is in how suddenly being back in contact with your origins after having been out of contact with them for so long is bound to prove anything but easy. Not only difficult for the Voyager crew, but difficult for the families back home. Chakotay puts it nicely when he mentions that such sudden news proving the Voyager crew is alive is likely to be difficult to those who had finally accepted that their loved ones were gone—especially considering that the ship may not reach home for 60 years anyway.

Janeway's situation makes a great example of this dilemma. The letter she receives is from her (former) fiancee Mark. And with this letter she realizes that the inevitable has occurred—that Mark has moved on with his life after having held on to his hopes longer than most. He has since married someone else. It's not something that Janeway finds particularly surprising; it's just that the fact it wasn't surprising doesn't make accepting the inevitable any easier. Her mention to Chakotay that the letter had such a "finality" was well said—perfectly said, in fact.

The strength of "Hunters" lies in its ability to involve the major characters in different ways. Take Tom, for example. He's hoping that he won't get a letter at all, because he would just as soon sever all connections he had with home. The fact that he has more on Voyager than he ever had back in the Alpha Quadrant is an issue that has a great deal of relevance. I also wonder what much of Voyager's Maquis population thinks "home" could offer them now knowing the entire Maquis organization has been wiped out.

I do have some complaints with the way two characters were handled. The first is Ensign Kim, who throughout the episode becomes his own mini-story, in which the suspense is whether or not Harry will get a message from his folks. I see what Jeri Taylor was going for here, but it's trite and obvious. Very. And it hammers home some larger issues about the whole character of Harry Kim, who is virtually the embodiment of innocent, uninteresting sterility. Harry once referred to himself as "Harry read-me-like-a-book Kim." That's a pretty accurate description. He's becoming as transparent as Neelix, although not as annoying. Garret Wang needs much more challenging material than this, because his kid-like innocence is not believable any more—especially given that the starship Voyager is such a precarious, unusual place for the average Starfleet officer.

The second character gripe is Neelix. I have to point an angry finger at Ethan Phillips this week, who performs the silly Talaxian in a way that leaves much to be desired. Sure, letters from home (even if it isn't his home) is exciting and everything, but Neelix's "cute" joyfulness was way, way overdone. The character was absolutely horrendous this week, transforming (temporarily, I hope) back into the "second season Neelix" who was utterly agonizing to watch. The scene where he reads the letter to "Mr. Vulcan" made me want to slap him around—a lot. And when he told Harry, "Don't pay attention to rumors," in a voice that would seem condescending even to an average third-grader, I wanted to put him into a photon torpedo and launch him into the nearest star (or perhaps a small black hole given this week's premise). I'll grant that his part wasn't particularly well written this week, but this sort of vexatious portrayal was something I'd thought Phillips had left behind almost two seasons ago.

And even though it doesn't matter much, I want to voice one other complaint: I find it absurd that the writers seem to think that no one on Voyager has heard of the Dominion. When Voyager premiered in January 1995, the Dominion was already a major part of DS9 lore. "The Jem'Hadar" had aired almost seven months previous.

But before I shift the tone of this review and give the impression that I didn't really like "Hunters," I'd better stress that most of the human moments in the story worked well for me, including some bits like the nice moment where Seven realizes that even she may discover some "emotional resonance" if she ever finds her way to distant family members back on Earth.

So that leaves one other order of business for a review of "Hunters": the subplot involving the Hirogens, a savage race of hunters who, as Tuvok aptly puts it, "lack any moral center." Quite simply, I could've done without this whole thing, which only serves to shift focus away from the emotional core of the story, just as "Message in a Bottle's" comedy plot did. The Hirogens are rather boring cartoon characters who provide conflict in only the most superficial and forced of ways. They're the typical Bad Guys of the Week (or, more correctly, the bad guys of this week and the next three weeks). Their dialog is laughable, their characterizations nonexistent, and their line delivery a series of grunts and growls. If this is the nemesis we have to watch in the next four episodes, I'm hoping those episodes will be carried by their action and plotting—because the Hirogens certainly won't be carrying it.

The "plot" involves the Hirogens kidnapping Tuvok and Seven from a shuttlecraft (which I think, incidentally, was lost, for those out there keeping track). They're held hostage and threatened, leaving the task to Janeway to negotiate their return. Yeah, right. As Seven might say, negotiation is irrelevant. The Hirogens want to keep Seven and Tuvok so they can slice them up and mount them as trophies.

In the meantime, Tuvok's attempts at negotiation are pathetic, as the writers give him unbelievably inappropriate lines like "Release us now and you will be safe, otherwise we will destroy you" and "If you kill us, our captain will hunt you down and show no mercy." These utterances don't sound like anything that stems from a Vulcan or Federation ethos, let alone Tuvok's character. It's just fortunate "Hunters" has so much else going for it, because the story involving the hunters is nearly a total bust.

In more positive news, I liked some of David Livingston's execution techniques. The opening in particular was nice—somewhat reminiscent of Contact—as the camera looks into the depths of space while a static-laden signal is heard on the audio track. Also, the interiors of the Hirogen ship were impressively decorated and photographed. The Hirogen themselves may be laughable, but at least their sets are kind of neat. And the climax, for all its ridiculous technobabble, was charged with a sense of urgent apocalyptic adrenaline, featuring the latest in micro-quantum singularities as super cosmic vacuum cleaners, which threaten to suck starships into oblivion. Or something.

But I think I've said enough. With "Hunters" we once again have an episode that could've been outstanding, and once again I'm only giving it a marginal recommendation. How unfortunate.

Next week: The Hirogen are in for the long haul ... and species 8472 has a supporting role.

I think the whole idea of a race of space-traveling humanoids obsessed with
hunting other species for sport is absurd. How the hell did they ever
manage to develop the technology to travel in outer spce to begin with, if
they haven't the brains to do the math?

To indijo: What makes you think that lack of moral equates as lack of skill
or genius? You don't have to look far back in history to see a state
utterly immoral and beastly that achieved amazing technological feats. That
is, the Third Reich. They did some pretty amazing things back then,
including some groundbreaking work on rocketry, which is quite needed for
space travel.

Brian, the data was said not to be in the correct order - thus there might
have been no indication for any bit to be Harry's, while they found a line
"Hi Tom," but not the rest of the message.
They might have uncovered all of Harry's message (or just found out that
that message of which they had 90% already was Harry's as they uncovered
the last 10%), while not getting any more than that greeting for Tom.

I disagree with your interpretation of Tuvok's "attempts at negotiation".
Indeed, this is not how a Vulcan or Starfleet officer would talk, but I
think it is quite obvious that Tuvok is attempting to appeal to what the
aliens might understand, violence and coercion, for it is obvious to him
that any kind of standard diplomacy would be useless. Thus, Tuvok attempts
to appear powerful and menacing to the aliens.

I tend to like "Hunters" more than most season 4 episodes, because of the
issue of finally making contact with home. It would have been a much more
poignant episode, if the script dealt solely with that. It would have been
interesting to hear what the letters actually said. Have voice actors read
the letters as the characters and then watch the Voyager crewmembers react.

Neelix is definitely at his most annoying. I hate the scene where Neelix
bosses Tuvok around in regards to when he should be reading his letter.
Neelix's line at the end of the scene ("Now read it right away, no
procrastinating, etc.") makes me upset each time I hear it. Who is Neelix
to be dictating to people when to read their letters? As morale officer
shouldn't he be respecting people's wishes?

I did like the scene where Chakotay informs B"Elanna of the Maquis deaths,
but I think Dawson's performance is too cliched. Wanting to take violent
revenge, I guess, is expected. But when she follows her outburst with "when
we get home." just shows how pointless that feeling is. I think a quieter
expression of rage would have made more sense to me. But I guess it can be
explained away by her Klingon half.

So, a fairly good episode for this series, but as you said there could have
been a lot more.

Well, I'm exactly halfway (22") thru the episode and of the 22 minutes I
found maybe 4-5 really interesting and apposite to a sci-fi show. The rest
- Harry "Where's My Letter-Nobody Loves Me" Kim, the annoying Neelix,
Acushla Moya and Torres with the Maqui... - I could've done without.

Do I care about how this or that makes the crew members FEEL, about their
relationships, about complexes? No. If I did, I'd watch Oprah.

Let's hope the episode picks up the pace though I see Kim just entered
Astrometrics to find Torres poking around the place. I bet we're in for
five minutes of Kim and his "I miss you ma and pa, do you think they
remember me; do you think they sent me a letter; when am I going to get my
letter...?" Oy vey...

Kate Mulgrew had two scenes that really showed her acting talent. One was
the scene in which she sits down to read her letter and the camera slowly
moves in toward her face as it reflects the emotions she is experiencing.
(This scene is even more powerful for the absence of any dialogue in it;
thank God they didn't insert a voiceover of Mark reading his letter.) The
other noteworthy moment came at the end of the scene in which Janeway tells
Chakotay about the letter -- the way she holds his gaze, with a sad look on
her face, is very affecting, all the more so because Janeway really needed
to be responding to Kim's summons to the bridge. This acting was on a par
with William Windom's in "The doomsday Machine," specifically his quietly
anguished reply when Kirk asks him where his crew is: "The third planet."

"Brian, the data was said not to be in the correct order - thus there might
have been no indication for any bit to be Harry's, while they found a line
"Hi Tom," but not the rest of the message.
They might have uncovered all of Harry's message (or just found out that
that message of which they had 90% already was Harry's as they uncovered
the last 10%), while not getting any more than that greeting for Tom."

That's all very possible. Might it also be possible that B'elanna lied and
deleted Tom's message, after reading it and seeing that his dad was being a
jerk? I dunno. Maybe.

And I disagree about the inclusion of the Hirogen subplot being a mistake.
While we are all obviously going to be drawn to the bits about the letters,
if there were no action at all in this episode, many viewers will judge it
a failure. Personally, I thought the proportions of story time were nearly
perfect.

I didn't see this discussed elsewhere, but there's a big plot hole when it
comes to Chakotay's letter.

Voyager left DS9 around stardate 48315.6. 'The Search' -- DS9's season 3
premiere that occurred months after the events in 'The Jem Hadar' --
occurred on stardate 48213.1. So how in the hell would the Maquis not have
known about the Dominion?

The only reasonable conclusion I can draw is that Starfleet kept the
Dominion information under wraps, and that it didn't get to the Maquis. But
this seems pretty doubtful, given the destruction of the Odyssey and the
fact that the Maquis had Starfleet sympathizers and good intelligence
gathering (remember the guy in the shadows in the infirmary in DS9's
'Tribunal'?). And, anyway, the Maquis were based pretty close to the
wormhole, and had Bajoran members.

Also, the events of 'Defiant' show that the Maquis had knowledge of DS9's
new vessel and put a plan (which was fairly complex and presumably time
consuming) into action to capture it. Why did the Maquis think this new
warship was docked at DS9?

There are some Jem Hadar tidbits that pop up elsewhere in Voyager. I seem
to recall Kes doing flight training against a simulated Jem Hadar attack at
one point in season 2, and Jem Hadar show up among the holo-created Alpha
Quadrant races (with ties to the Hyrogen) in season 7. So, if Starfleet
officers on Voyager knew of the Dominion, are we to believe that this new,
huge looming threat never got mentioned to Chakotay or Torres?

I think the Voyager creators just dropped the ball on continuity (again).
BTW, the story wouldn't have taken a hit had Chakotay and Torres known
about the Dominion because the drama hinges on the alliance and subsequent
attack.

This episode really could have been something special if they had kicked
the stupid Hirogen B-plot (along with Neelix) out the airlock, turned it
into a bottle show, and concentrated entirely on the range of emotions and
reactions of the crew upon receiving news from home.

I would like to defend Garrett Wang's portrayal of Kim -- he has definitely
changed from the bright-eyed, over-eager pup to a child who has been
abused. He's seen too much, and though he's had the experiences, he's not
yet jaded. Hence, I think it's understandable that he wants his parents.
Go back and watch him in the first season and compare him to now. You can
see it in his eyes.

I just don't understand why all crew members are eager to continue the
pointless journey back home if they know it'll take another 60 years! How
come they don't get sick of that small ship? Plus, Neelix is always talking
about "home" and is as much eager to go to the Earth as other Earth-born
crew members. How come the Maquis want to go back? There's noone there to
wait for them now except for jail-time. I just dislike the fact that going
back home is never questioned by anyone on board.

I was taken aback by the high quality of character writing in this episode.
The dialogue was snappy, believable, and deftly balanced wit and
sentimentality. It was a rare pleasure to watch the crew confront
previously hidden areas of their personal life. It was almost like the show
itself realized the cast are characters, not plot traversal machines. All
these compartmentalized feelings finally came out. A subtle turning point
for the series.

@navamske - You didn't mention that at the beginning of the scene before
she reads the letter she looks a bit apprehensive as if she's afraid of
what she might find. Then her relief as she begins the letter and smiles
and then the slow devastation as she finishes the letter. No sniff, no
tears, no gasp... just pain on her face as she loses her hope of being able
to regain what she's lost.

Not only have B'Elanna and Chakotay never heard of the Dominion, but the
EMH hasn't either, as seen in the previous episode. If the Voyager computer
has Jem'Hadar holograms in their database (as seen by the shuttle training
program in Parturition, and the existence of the Jem'Hadar holograms in the
Hirogen training simulation in Flesh And Blood, a program which could have
only come from Voyager); why does their holographic doctor not know about
them? Is he not part of the ship's systems?

Ugh. This one was mostly okay, but besides introducing the ridiculously
cliche Hirogen, Neelix is back in full-on Jar Jar Binks mode. I don't know
why the writers were so obnoxiously insistent on pushing the theme of him
trying to prod Tuvok into displaying more emotion. The single best Neelix
scene in Voyager remains the one in "Meld" where Tuvok had the vision of
strangling him to death.

In what could have been a classic episode turns instead into a touching but
inconsistent one with very nice character moments interspersed with a well
done, albeit unnecessary action subplot.

This isn't a good start in learning of the Hirogen. The idea of them being
a hunter species is interesting, if not fresh. But as it's displayed here,
they come across as simply the big bad tough guys that will be around for
some time.

The scenes involving the Voyager crew receiving the letters from home fared
way better, despite the par for the course continuity issues. Some really
great dialogue and performances sold it with heart and poignancy.

Neelix prodding Tuvok as he normally does is just Neelix being himself. He
doesn't do it thinking he's going to make Tuvok suddenly change. He does it
because it's probably his way of showing affinity for him. In the case of
this episode, Neelix is utilizing his Morale officer position to encourage
Tuvok to take two minutes from what he's doing to read what his family has
to say. I think anyone in that position, even Janeway, would encourage
that. But since it's Neelix, bring on the hate rhetoric.

I would be lying if I said this episode wasn't a disappointment. It was.
However, it does mostly work on its own terms and, overall, is still pretty
solid.

I don't hate Neelix, but I do think he handled the situation with Tuvok's
letter poorly. He's got to know that a letter from his family would prompt
an emotional reaction, and that Tuvok would want to deal with that on his
own time, and in private. By hovering, Neelix really was intruding. Now, if
he had left him alone, but called him "Grandpa" at breakfast the next
morning, that would have been funny :-)

I get the sense that the creative off both Voyager and DS9 ignored each
other. UPN probably would had been oppose to it, but Voyager could had
brought up some more stuff that happened on DS9 and even had a few cameos.

The hunting special isn't exactly a new concept for Trek and sci fi, but at
least they fleshed out the Hirogen. With it's seven year run I'm glad
Voyager was able to touch on theme that went great with it's premise.

I actually liked the Hirogen. Much like I enjoyed species 8472. Why?
Because they're mysterious, imposing and threatening. Ofcourse there isn't
much more to them then meets the eye, but a simplistic, physically imposing
villain can be entertaining too.
I was never fond of the scheming, sneaky, plan within a plan hidden behind
a plot to set a trap kind of villains (Looking at you, Cardassians!).
They're too often used for cliffhanger endings (something I loathe) and
false suspense. I'll take the physically imposing, simplistically brute
species. But that's just me, I guess.

As many already point out, Neelix overstepped his bounds by needlessly
pestering the one person they apparently want him to have his yin/yang
friendship with. He has no business reading Tuvok's mail, no business
telling him when he should be reading it and no business interfering in
Tuvok's personal affairs.
I don't even understand why they need a mailman. It's the 24th century and
they're on a technologically advanced, but still very small spaceship.
Forward it to their private folders in their quarters or something. But I
suppose this was the only way they could think of to put Neelix to use.
Another pointless job that doesn't really need to be done by anyone. He's
racking up quite a few of them.

Some of the stuff I really liked were:
The Hirogen design. Huge, physically imposing and appropriately frightening
looking. They did a wonderful job with their make up and design.
Seven's subtle humanization continuing to trickle through bit by bit every
episode, this one being no exception.
Janeway's superb deliver when confronted with her piece of news from back
home.

I just watched this again, and I really wanted to smack Harry when he said,
"Neelix, I thought you had thirty letters to deliver." What did he think
Neelix was going to say? "Oh right, I do have thirty letters to deliver!
Thank goodness you reminded me." or "Yes, I do have thirty letters to
deliver, but I decided to withhold them just to, you know, be a dick."

I've never complained about the Maquis situation. I don't think they would
have mutinied or anything like that; they're stuck on Voyager and want to
get home as much as anyone else. While they may not be fans of Starfleet
in general, they're military too and understand the chain of command. I
would have understood lapses in Starfleet protocol (like what happened in
Learning Curve), but major problems? Nah, they would get over it and
settle into a routine pretty easily; by the second season I think the
issues would be over it.

I say that because, while this episode on the whole was very good, I think
they did mishandle the Maquis aspect. They may be willing to work together
in the Delta quadrant, but they would still have quite a bit of loyalty to
their comrades back home. And finding out that your friends are all dead
is going to be a huge shock. So how did they do that?

Chakotay was upset about it, naturally. He told Torres in a touching
scene. Very nice. Then, once he said that, he was back to being his
normal, half-stoned self. No show of emotion at all. OK, fine, maybe he
is just an ultimate professional and able to control himself while on duty.
But then look at how he acted when in private with Janeway. Poor widdle
captain got a dear John letter, and Chakotay is so concerned with Janeway's
tiny problem while ALL HIS FRIENDS ARE DEAD! Maybe, just maybe, he has
more important problems to worry about? Nah, it's all about Janeway's
problem that she had already suspected had happened. We all know who's
problems are really important, and it's not Chuckles'.

Torres was dealt with a little better, but I think the acting (and writing)
during her scene with Paris was off. She talks with Paris about his
problems, which is fine, but then suddenly shouts out that she has sadness
too! It just felt awkward as heck. It would have been better if Paris had
noticed something was wrong with B'Elanna and asked her about it first.
After all, if the two of them are serious, then surely he should notice if
she was a bit out of sorts. It would give their relationship a bit more
heft.

And naturally, at the end, Torres was back to normal and the Maquis
completely forgotten. Instead of a reference to Neelix's party, I think
they should have ended the episode with all the Maquis crewmembers having a
solemn wake for their dead friends. That would allow the show to drop the
issue and move on (as it obviously wanted to do) but still give it the
solemnity that the issue deserves.

Fortunately, the rest of the episode was pretty good. Sure it had the
traditional last second dramatic fight, but they telegraphed the ending
with the black hole bit, so it worked pretty well. The Hirogen vessel was
appropriately creepy, and the intro to the show was awesome. They did a
reasonable job of mixing up real human interest along with a decent action
story. Just wish they could have handled the Maquis aspect a little
better.

Skeptical - the reason Chakotay pays attention to Janeway now being single
is because he wants to fuck her! His line "you don't have that safety net
anymore" was completely his penis talking. When you find out that all your
friends are dead, you want at least a pity fuck. He's happy that he now
might get that chance.

I also agree with everyone else that the whole concept of the PADDs was
ridiculous. You don't need to physically deliver mail or official reports.
Just use the Internet to download them to each person's personal email
inbox in their quarters.

Another strong episode, packed with good character moments and finally
tackling the issue of those back home in detail. While Harry's puppy dog
enthusiasm gets a bit wearing this is all played out really well.

The Hirogen are a bit one note at the moment - and that note is a kind of
uninteresting Predator - and I'd agree that the actioner sits slightly at
odds with the more reflective rest of the episode. 3 stars then.

Great review, but I'll part ways with you concerning Tuvok. He was just
speaking to the Hirogen in a manner he thought they would respond to. It
was logical.

I like their ship, their size and "lack of morals". This episode made be
think of Tosk for some stupid reason :-)

The way Neelix delivered "the mail" was how it was done back when I first
joined the Navy. So, while I don't understand why in the 24th century folks
can't get stuff electronically, it brought back find memories. I agree
Jammer, I thought this Neelix had left us for good.

I thought the reaction from our heroes during "mail call" was genuine and
heartfelt. Some choked up ole Yanks. But I agree with Skeptical, this was a
fantastic opportunity for the Maquis to get out of the past and move
forward. A missed opportunity here by the writers.

I haven't seen this is quite awhile, but I never remember giving a shit
whether someone on Voyager knew about the Dominion or not. This can only be
a concern of "niners".

@milica: 'How come the Maquis want to go back? There's noone there to wait
for them now except for jail-time. I just dislike the fact that going back
home is never questioned by anyone on board.How come the Maquis want to go
back? There's noone there to wait for them now except for jail-time. I just
dislike the fact that going back home is never questioned by anyone on
board.'

Thankfully, this would be addressed in a later episode, Hope and Fear:

SEVEN: You were a member of the Maquis. Starfleet Command will no doubt
hold you responsible for a multitude of crimes. You will find nothing on
Earth but adversity.
TORRES: Well, that's looking on the bright side. Let's put it this way: I'd
rather face the music at home than spend the rest of my life in the Delta
Quadrant.

Though I agree with you that it would probably have contributed more to
both the characters and the plot if the Maquis had been shown to agonise
some more over this.

I, too, think that Torres destroyed Tom's message, or at the very least,
put it at the back of the downloading queue, so to speak. I thought the
final bridge scene where she delivered the last batch of letters implied
that she had decided to prioritise Harry's letter over Tom's, because she
knew how much that meant to Harry, and that he'd probably appreciate his
letter more than Tom would.

As for the final scene between Janeway and Chakotay - HA! I'm glad I wasn't
the only one who saw that Chakotay was basically thinking, 'Great, now
she's single and has no reason (or safety net) to rebuff me anymore - time
to move in for the kill!' And then Janeway immediately manouevring him back
into the friendzone. I found a whole lot funnier than I probably should
have..

The whole end scene where Janeway and Chakotay lock arms to go to the
party- You can totally tell they were trying to build their relationship
off for a big payoff at the end but ultimately pooped on it and hooked him
up with Seven instead for whatever reason.

I mean I'm no Lifetime movie nut or anything, but wouldn't this have made
perfect sense in the end? I mean Mark's out of the picture and all.. what a
set up!

The plot about the letters was very well done, with two exceptions. First,
while there is nothing wrong about Harry wanting to hear from his folks
again, in context of him not even mentioning his fiance, it seems almost
infentile. Wouldn't him getting a letter and feeling guilty about moving on
while she kept waiting for him much more interesting a provide contrast
with Janeway's part? Second, yeah, Neelix. There's being extroverted and
friendly and just being intrusive and annoying. He hasn't lost goodwill he
got from Mortal Coil buuut he better knock it off.

The Hirogen stuff was just... alright. They really are quintessential
planet of hats and while not a rip-off, since they are clearly not trying
to hide the Predator influence, it's not a terribly creative hat either.
Still, the Voyager crew going against predators could be fun. And they are
at least genuinely intimidating, so still better than Kazon.

I'm hearing everyone's complaint about the letters from home being on
Padds, and Neelix giving them out. But to me it makes dramatic sense. I
think the whole process of giving the Padds out individually adds a bit of
drama, and excitement, to the scenes. What interest would there be if
everyone just checked their "email" , or whatever exists then. Not as much
suspense, and quiet celebration, or for Chakotay and Janeway, quiet
despair, if it was eMail. This way we, as viewers, get to participate in
the anticipation.

And even if everyone dislikes Neelix, it seems appropriate as the "goodwill
ambassador" for him to bring the letters to the crew.

"Hunters" is a weird episode - I liked the letters from home part and the
different sides we see from the crew but the Hirogen hunters part was
cartoonish. They kind of remind me of the Pakleds from TNG -- without
morals, very simplistic, although they didn't say like "make us go fast" or
whatever. But they are certainly singularly focused.

The ending had some technobabble to get Voyager out of the black hole --
not sure what exactly Janeway & Co. did with some kind of pulse to
destroy the station and suck the Hirogen ships in -- not to mention Harry
transporting 7 of 9 and Tuvok out in the nick of time. He made it seem like
it was highly unlikely that he'd be able to transport them back given the
gravitational pull of the black hole but it was done anyway. Oh well.

Must say the Hirogen ship was pretty cool - from the inside and outside.

I guess my big issue with this episode is the juxtaposition of 2 completely
different "sub plots". Wish it had done away with the Hirogen hunting part
and just focused on the letters and playing out the crew's reactions more.
Instead it wasted time with Neelix and Harry Kim's crappy acting/lines.

"Hunters" barely gets to 2.5 stars for me. The balance was off in this
episode -- the Hirogen/hunting part didn't start until quite late and
wrapped up very quickly with some dubious technobabble solution. The part
about the letters allowed some good character moments about the crew's home
-- probably something long overdue to hear about, but it left some loose
ends (Paris' dad, the killing of the Maquis, and even what Harry Kim's
folks had to say).

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